Inside the bloody turf war tearing south London apart: Map reveals where gangs control streets and ply schoolchildren with drugs in vicious postcode rivalry that led to machete murder of a 14-year-old
The machete murder of schoolboy Kelyan Bokassa on the number 472 bus in broad daylight in front of shocked passengers is the latest in a bloody gang war that has torn the Woolwich community apart.
14-year-old Kelyan is described by his mother as a polite boy who was groomed by a drug gang from an early age. 14-year-old Kelyan was stabbed twelve times on the double-decker bus on Tuesday afternoon.
Terrified witnesses said they saw two baby-faced young men sprinting away from the atrocity, one armed with a machete “as long as your forearm.”
Just 24 hours earlier, an 18-year-old student was fighting for his life after being stabbed less than a mile away.
And MailOnline can reveal Kelyan’s senseless murder took place as he was still mourning the death of his close friend DaeJaun Campbell, 15, who was stabbed to death by a zombie knife-wielding killer.
Kelyan’s murder has shed light on the postcode war that has turned this part of south-east London into a battlefield.
The Wildbatch gang operates on the infamous Barnfield estate where Keylan lived with his mother. An area to the south, close to Woolwich Dockyard, is controlled by their bitter rivals, the WoolyO gang.
Both gangs are said to be vying for control of the local drug trade – particularly crack cocaine and cannabis – and have formed alliances with gangsters from nearby areas.
Kelyan Bokassa (pictured) was stabbed in front of shocked passengers on a bus on route 472 in Woolwich at around 2.30pm on Tuesday.
Kelyan’s death comes less than four months after the murder of another teenager – Daejaun Campbell, 15 (pictured) – who was also fatally stabbed in Woolwich in September last year
The Woolwich Boys were a huge gang said to have more than 300 members, mainly those of Somali background, which emerged in the late 1990s.
Gangsters from the Woolwich Boys are said to have terrorized, robbed and even murdered drug rivals using meat cleavers and AK-47s.
According to gangland folklore, the gang was further decimated when twenty of its members died fighting for ISIS in Syria, including Abdullah Hassan, who was filmed bragging about wanting to kill British and Western soldiers.
Keylan, an aspiring drill rapper who performed under the name “Grippa,” had ties to Wildbatch.
He had just released a song on Christmas Day called Bangers & Mash.
In the music video, he pretended to wave a knife in the air while rapping about “pigs” – slang for police – gangs, guns, “swords” and “getting punched.”
About an hour before he was killed, the schoolboy posted a chilling message on Instagram asking his followers if they had a ‘mindi’ – the Somali word for knife.
Now we can reveal he was due to appear before magistrates on Friday accused of carrying a machete to Ravensbourne College. In his last brush with the law, he was charged with possession of a weapon in a public place.
An image of the scene after Kelyan was stabbed to death on a bus in Woolwich
Pictured is Kelyan’s heartbroken mother, Mary Bokassa, holding a photo of her son
Kelyan previously shared a photo of Daejaun on Instagram with the tribute: “#Longliveboogz I still can’t believe it’s you man, rest in peace.”
Keylan’s mother, Mary Bokassa, cried on Wednesday as she blamed gangs for the care of her “kind and caring” son during a period when he lived on the streets after running away from a care home in Kent.
Keylan’s friend DaeJaun died a mile away, just over three months ago. As his life ebbed away, he cried out, “I’m fifteen, don’t let me die.”
Three teenagers, Jacob Losiewicz, 18, Marko Balaz, also 18, and a 17-year-old youth have been charged with Daejaun’s murder.
Moved by his friend’s death, Kelyan posted a photo to his Instagram account of a candlelit shrine filled with flowers that had been set up near where Daejuan was stabbed with a zombie knife on Eglinton Road, Woolwich, on September 22.
The site is close to the infamous Barnfield estate near Woolwich Common, where Wildbatch is based. Their rivals, WoolyO, are based near the Woolwich Docks.
According to sources familiar with street gang culture in south-east London, Wildbatch is linked to Peckham’s Zone 2 gang and TG based in Plumstead Common. WoolyO, meanwhile, has formed links with GS28, who are based in neighboring Thamesmead, and Parkside, who are based in Belvedere.
Despite millions of pounds of regeneration being invested in Woolwich over the past decade, the area has failed to shake its criminal underbelly and stabbings have become a regular occurrence.
On Monday afternoon – just 24 hours before Kelyan’s horrific murder – an 18-year-old was rushed to hospital after being stabbed at Shooter’s Hill Sixth Form College in Woolwich.
Kelyan was an aspiring musician, who filmed videos under the street name ‘Grippa’
In July 2021, 15-year-old Tamim Ian Habimana (pictured) was murdered outside Woolwich Arsenal station by a gang who had entered the area by train.
A forensics officer is seen on board the bus holding a weapons tube used to collect evidence – January 7, 2025
Before Kelyan was stabbed to death, he posted on Instagram asking if any of his followers had a “mindy.” This is believed to refer to the word ‘mindi’, which is Somali for ‘knife’
Kelyan is depicted with his mother, Mary, on a trip to the beach as a young boy
Tributes have poured in for the young musician dubbed ‘Grippa’, with devastated friends on social media saying he was ‘taken too soon’
He remains in critical condition after the attack, which police have not linked to Kelyan’s death.
Last May, mobile phone footage emerged of a man being stabbed with a huge machete outside the Pure Gym in Woolwich.
The disturbing clip showed two men dressed in black trying to steal a bag from a man in a white T-shirt, with one of the men pulling out the knife and slashing at the victim’s leg, which he then cut a second attacker was attacked. he was lying on the floor in a fetal position.
A man in his 20s was taken to hospital with a non-life-threatening stab wound.
A few weeks after that incident, a vicious knife fight was caught on camera outside a Footlocker store on Woolwich High Street. Bystanders blamed local gangs for the massacre.
In July 2021, 15-year-old Tamim Ian Habimana was murdered outside Woolwich Arsenal station by a gang who had traveled into the area by train.
He was stabbed in the heart by youths who had come from Dartford in Kent to take revenge on a friend of theirs who had been stabbed and injured nine days earlier.
Tamim had not been the attacker, but he was approached by a 16-year-old boy who pulled out a zombie knife and stabbed him. The teenager was convicted of wounding, possession of an offensive weapon and conspiracy to commit violent disorder.
Two police officers stand outside a police cordon on Woolwich Church Road where the teenager was stabbed to death on Tuesday
Police maintain a cordon after a teenager was fatally stabbed on a London bus on Tuesday, January 7, 2025
A police officer walks past a bus stop on Woolwich Church Road in Woolwich after a 14-year-old boy was stabbed to death on a bus
An air ambulance attended the scene, but unfortunately the boy was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics
A 17-year-old boy was convicted of possessing an offensive weapon and conspiracy to commit violent disorder.
Much of the gang war in Woolwich has its roots in one of London’s most notorious criminal networks that have established themselves in the region.
They transformed from a low-level street crime gang to a well-structured criminal organization involved in drug trafficking and contract killings.
However, due to increased police surveillance, the gang began to concentrate their efforts on running County Lines’ drug operations outside London. Several gang members were arrested at dawn in Gillingam, Kent, in 2013.